The 2.5 billion text messages sent every year by
roaming customers in the EU cost over 10 times more than domestic short messages
(SMS), show figures released today by the European Commission. The average cost
of a roaming text message in the EU between October 2007 and March 2008 was
€0.29 according to the European Regulators’ Group (ERG), but can be
as high as €0.80 for travellers from Belgium. Calls on the industry for
self-regulation and voluntary reductions of roaming prices for text messages
have not been answered. The Commission will therefore start working on measures
to ensure that consumers benefit from a truly single market for mobile text
services. The Commission will also seek to put an end to "bill shocks" that can
hit roaming customers using a mobile connection to surf the Internet. New
measures could be proposed by the Commission to the European Parliament and the
Council in early autumn.

“Europe's Single Market should be allowed to play its part, making
sure that no borders re-appear on travellers' phone bills,” said
José Manuel Barroso, President of the European Commission. “On
seeing the latest price trends gathered by national telecoms regulators, I am
particularly concerned by the high prices paid by consumers for text messages
when they are travelling abroad. There is also a danger that European businesses
are put off by non-transparent roaming costs for mobile data services. The
Commission will closely work together with the European Parliament and the
Council to find swift responses to Europe's data roaming
problems.”

“EU citizens should be free to text across borders without being
ripped off,” said Telecoms Commissioner Viviane Reding.
“Roaming charges have already drained the wallets of mobile customers
too much, especially the 77% of young people who send texts while using their
mobile abroad. It is not a good sign for the competitiveness of Europe's mobile
industry that it still hasn't got the message that credible price reductions are
needed to avoid regulation. I will therefore recommend to my fellow
Commissioners that we propose a regulation of SMS roaming in October. We will
also have to discuss in which way to address data roaming, which continues to be
heavily overpriced.”

"Based on the assessment of the market made by national regulators, the
ERG found that roaming prices for sending text messages are currently too high
and has highlighted the need for regulation. We welcome the fact that the
Commission has arrived at the same conclusions”, said Dániel
Pataki, Chairman of the ERG and Head of the Hungarian National Communications
Authority. "In the view of the ERG, a price cap between €0.11 and
€0.15 per SMS would be appropriate”, he added.

“On data roaming, we will have to continue to assess the need for
additional regulation. We call on the industry to be vigilant on data roaming
prices so that price regulation can be ruled out in the future. The ERG is also
concerned that lower wholesale charges for data roaming should be available to
smaller and newer operators."

The Commission today presented a new roaming website to make transparent the
prices currently charged to consumers who use their mobile phone for sending
text messages or surfing the web abroad in one of the 27 EU Member States. Based
on input from the European Regulators Group (ERG) and from information requested
from mobile operators, the website shows:

A typical French customer sending a roaming text message from holidays in
Italy this summer could pay up to €0.30, while a Czech tourist in Italy
would pay up to €0.42 (10.00 CZK). In Spain, a Swedish holidaymaker could
pay up to €0.40 (3.79 SEK) per message when roaming, a German €0.41,
a Pole €0.45 (1.50 ZL) and a tourist from the UK as much as €0.63
(£0.40 GBP)

The average retail price of text messages in the EU has remained unchanged
since February when Commissioner Reding called on the industry to lower prices
voluntarily. A roaming text message still costs around €0.29 (excluding
VAT), and can go up to €0.80 for Belgian roamers. This is more than ten
times higher than the price for domestic text messages which can be as low as
€0.034 according to a new study by the Danish
regulator (National IT and Telecom Agency).

Only one operator in Austria reacted to the Commission's call for better
prices offering 100 bundled text messages at €0.10 per roamed message as
of 16 June.

Prices for data services while roaming still range from €0.25 per MB
to over €16 per MB (IP/08/1048).
This can create "bill-shocks" particularly for users who are not aware that such
prices apply. In addition, high wholesale rates prevent smaller operators and
operators from smaller EU countries from offering more competitive data packages
to their customers.

These findings and the results of a public
consultation that ended on 2 July (IP/08/718)
will now feed into the Commission's current review of the scope of the EU
Roaming Regulation which has been requested by the European Parliament. A
detailed impact assessment is in preparation, also taking into account the
findings of the ERG.

"The ERG's diligent and detailed work will be of tremendous help to the
Commission in arriving at a final decision on text messages and data roaming,"
said Commissioner Reding. "On this solid basis, the Commission should be
able to present a legislative proposal to the European Parliament and the
Council in early autumn. I will put all my energy into paving the way for a
political agreement still under the French presidency of the EU."

Background

The EU Roaming Regulation came into force on 30 June 2007 (MEMO/08/457,
IP/07/870).
The Commission is required to report by 30 December 2008 on its implementation
and make proposals whether to extend it in time and scope. The Commission
originally proposed the Regulation because prices for roaming voice calls were
not justified by the underlying costs of providing the service (IP/06/386).